Dark Skies over Opportunity (1) - Sol 1225

A giant dust storm brewing for more than a week on Mars has become worse and is affecting surface operations of the MER Spirit and Opportunity. Because the Rovers depend on solar energy for survival, and the dust is partially blocking the Sun, the storm is being watched closely by the rover scientists and engineers.
Opportunity's entry into Victoria Crater is delayed for at least several days.
The storm, the most severe storm yet to hit the Rovers, is expected to continue for at least another week. Opportunity is perched near Duck Bay as it readies to descend into Victoria Crater, but operations were scaled back on Saturday, June 30, to conserve power.

"The storm is affecting both Rovers and reducing the power levels on Opportunity" said John Callas, MER Project Manager at NASA's JPL, Pasadena, Calif. "We are keeping an eye on this as we go forward, but our entry into Victoria Crater will be delayed until no sooner than July 13".

"We have some data that show the atmospheric opacity is decreasing, so the storm might have peaked and we may have passed the worst of this. The situation could improve quickly from here, but we will have to wait and see", said Callas.

Weather reports from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Color Imager camera are helping track the storm and plan Rover operations.